Since the start of the offseason, the Patriots have been connected to several top players who either requested a trade from their current team due to a dispute over a contract extension or players who were rumored to be potentially tradeable for various reasons. New England had, and still does, the most cap space to pull off a big-time move, but nothing came to fruition ahead of the regular season.
Trey Hendrickson reached an agreement with the Bengals to increase his salary for the upcoming year, while Terry McLaurin finally secured the extension he had been seeking, effectively eliminating both from the Patriots' orbit.
But that left Micah Parsons on the table, as the talented pass rusher and the Cowboys continue to be far apart in the negotiation process. Up to this point, owner Jerry Jones has made it clear that he is not interested in moving the future Hall of Famer, but that has reportedly changed in recent days, at least according to NFL insider Adam Schefter.
"Several teams have spoken to the Dallas Cowboys about a potential Micah Parsons' trade and for the first time the Cowboys appear willing to at least listen, according to multiple sources."
The time is now for the Patriots to get serious about presenting a trade offer that could surpass the competition, even if there are some questions about Parsons' behavior throughout this ongoing process in Dallas.
If the Patriots want to be a competitive team ASAP, then trading for Micah Parsons must be a possibility
Things are ever-evolving in the NFL, even when it comes to a team that would ever want to move on from a superstar player. That appears to be the case with the Cowboys regarding their feelings about trading Parsons, as Schefter further detailed that sources believe a trade is more likely now than it ever has been.
"Parsons could be traded, which sources believe seems to have become a stronger possibility in recent days than it has been at any point during this process. There are said to be multiple suitors, though it's unclear whether Dallas ultimately would be willing to deal Parsons."
That's a huge step in the right direction for the Patriots, who would presumably have interest simply because of the talent that Parsons is. He would immediately make their defense one of the best in the league, and he fits exactly what Mike Vrabel is hoping to accomplish with the roster moving forward.
Making the entire situation even sweeter is that the Patriots are in the best position possible to offer him what he's looking for and then some. They have the means to afford him now and in the future, and could be willing to dish out a lot of draft capital to get him in the building.
While that would seemingly go against their desire to build a team through the draft, there's no way they would get the caliber of pass-rushing talent from a rookie in any of the upcoming drafts that would match Parsons' production, so giving up a couple of early-round picks wouldn't change that much.
It won't be an easy decision to make, but Parsons seems like a player who would be worth giving up everything and the kitchen sink for.